Monday, July 16, 2007

TAKING ON THE TREND OF SAVING AFRICA?

From my perspective, there is something simultaneously wonderful and unsettling about the U.S. and European star-studded campaign to "save" Africa.

On the one hand, I am grateful for anything that reverses the trend of Africa being ignored.

I'd much rather see celebrities spend their time and money to help combating malaria or ending genocide, as opposed to promoting their latest projects, or worse, shilling corporate products.

Plus, awareness campaigns are, at the very least, informative. Since I sadly admit to being one of millions of Americans with near-total ignorance of the African continent, I learned quite a few things from Vanity Fair's latest Africa issue, guest-edited by Bono.

On the other hand, I am uncomfortable with much of the language used in the various "Save Africa" campaigns. I know just enough about the diversity of Africa to understand that "Save Africa" sounds as silly as "Save Asia."

Plus, the word "save" conjures up images of everything from Crusaders to colonizers to missionaries. Given that we save the environment, save stranded animals, and save Jericho, it's unsettling to hear anybody talk of saving actual human beings who are not begging to be saved.

On Sunday, a compelling op-ed by Uzodinma Iweala, author of Beasts of No Nation, appeared in the Washington Post. His work spoke to the part of me that cringes when self-congratulatory celebrities embrace Africa-related charity like hot trends of the moment, replacing Kabbalah and Ugg boots.

He also persuasively argues that images of a disease-ridden, poverty-stricken Africa has the effect of promoting cultural superiority in the West.

And yet, I also cringed because Iweala's essay will make celebrities, politicians, and philanthropists feel less comfortable about participating in any humanitarian campaign involving Africa.

I've attached his op-ed below. How do Iweala's words hit you?

Stop Trying To 'Save' Africa

By Uzodinma IwealaSunday, July 15, 2007

Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the "African" beads around her wrists.

"Save Darfur!" she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!

My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.

"Don't you want to help us save Africa?" she yelled.

It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East, the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.

This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.

Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/" I am African" ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted "tribal markings" on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, "help us stop the dying."

Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly focus on the continent's corrupt leaders, warlords, "tribal" conflicts, child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital mutilation. These descriptions run under headlines like "Can Bono Save Africa?" or "Will Brangelina Save Africa?" The relationship between the West and Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but such articles are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus Christ and "civilization."

There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head -- because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.

Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been "granted independence from their colonial masters," as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?

Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments -- without much international help -- did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.

Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa doesn't want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.

Uzodinma Iweala is the author of "Beasts of No Nation," a novel about child soldiers.